"Intelligent" Virtual Met Mast™

Virtual Met Mast™ has undergone a transformation. Designed especially to help large and smaller scale wind farm developers and wind farm consultants select the best onshore and offshore wind farm sites throughout Europe, it now offers major improvements in both accuracy and uncertainty statistics.

Advanced downscaling processes are used to produce accurate, long-term, site and hub height specific wind climatologies and associated hourly time series datasets specifically for the onshore and offshore wind energy industry, including mean wind speed, wind direction, exceedence values, wind shear and turbulence intensity. As such, it can be used with confidence to estimate long-term average wind speeds for new sites as well as providing a reliable long-term reference for correlation with monitored site data as demonstrated in our
sample report
(PDF, 2 MB)
.

New "intelligence function"

Our new version of Virtual Met Mast™ has an "intelligence function" that uses statistical techniques to build a knowledge base of correction factors between model, reanalysis and monitored data across a range of sites and applies that learning to minimise resulting biases in wind speed results for new sites. This process is able to capture detailed interactions between wind and orographic data through a set of non-linear statistical relations and is therefore particularly effective in regions with complex terrain.

Benefits for wind farm developers and consultants

High accuracy will benefit all sites and in particular those with more marginal wind conditions and in more complex terrains.

High resolution modelling maintains atmospheric integrity down to specific site location.

Up to 35 years of hourly time series data is available with high temporal consistency

Includes inter annual and decadal variability which ensures greater understanding of the potential volatility of the wind. As standard for UK sites and is available at an additional charge for other European sites.

Offers wind shear, gust and turbulence values .

Defines classification of site in accordance with international standards.

A localised wind map is included in the report to highlight the variation of wind speeds across the site.

Verification data

Data generated from the Virtual Met Mast™ has been extensively compared and verified against monitored data from over 130 sites located across UK and Europe, including offshore, nearshore and onshore locations across a variety of terrain complexities and hub-heights. Results of this verification are published in a verification report which is available on request. These results form the basis for the uncertainty statistics contained in every Virtual Met Mast™ report.

Temporis Wind, a developer, funder and operator of single wind turbine projects, needed to provide accurate, reliable and fast site assessments to its customers. They commissioned us to complete Virtual Met Mast™ reports (initially just at site screening level) for over 200 potential sites. This enabled Temporis Wind to complete orders for wind turbines from several manufacturers and saved Temporis Wind both critical time and money. Download the
Temporis case study
(PDF, 147 kB)
.

Contact us for our latest verification report which shows the performance of Virtual Met Mast™ outputs.